Among fluorinated alkyl ethers, one containing no halogen other than fluorine is considered not to destroy the ozone layer and thus is a compound expected to be a substitute for a chlorofluorocarbon or a hydrochlorofluorocarbon which has been used as a CFC.
As a method for preparing a fluorinated alkyl ether, a method is known wherein a fluorinated alkyl alcohol and a fluorinated olefin are reacted in the presence of an alkali metal or an alkali metal hydroxide (Patent Document 1). However, such a method requires reaction conditions such as high temperature and high pressure, and yet, the reaction rate is low.
Under the circumstances, as a method to improve the above method, a method for synthesizing a fluorinated alkyl ether by reacting a fluorinated alkyl alcohol and a fluorinated olefin in an aprotic polar solvent, has been reported (Patent Document 2). However, even when this method is employed, there has been a problem such that in order to obtain a sufficient reaction rate, a high reaction pressure is required, and since a large amount of the aprotic polar solvent is required, a post-process such as distillation is required.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,294 (Examples)
Patent Document 2: JP-A-9-263559 (claims, Examples)